Disney CEO Bob Iger Comments on Superhero Fatigue, Saying It's Not Fatigue, Audiences Just Want Great Films

Over the last few years, fans have seemed to care less and less for the films pumped out by the Marvel machine, with a few exceptions. The movies (as well as some shows) have been close together, and some have felt rushed and thoughtless when it comes to the stories they’ve set out to tell. It seems like when fans were really hungry for new content, back in 2020 and 2021, when we were mostly stuck at home, the studios just made plans to pump out as much as they could as fast as possible, but many believe this wasn’t the right course of action, as the quantity over quality standard always ends up feeling like a miss.

Things seem to be shaping up, as the studio seems to have acknowledged the misstep, and they’ve talked about changing the way content is created moving forward. When asked about the idea of “superhero fatigue,” at the Morgan Stanley conference in San Francisco on Tuesday, Disney CEO Bob Iger explained that "we're doing a lot" to rectify the downward trend for Disney films that "hit on hard times that needed addressing."

Iger then addressed Marvel Studios, pushing back on the idea that audiences have superhero fatigue, saying:

"A lot of people think it's audience fatigue, it's not audience fatigue. They want great films. And if you build it great, they will come and there are countless examples of that. Some are ours and some are others. Oppenheimer is a perfect example of that. Just a fantastic film. Focus is really important. We reduced the output of Marvel, both number of films they make, and the number of TV shows, and that really becomes critical, but I feel good about the team. I feel good about the IP we're making. I talked about a lot of the projects. We look years ahead, really. And it's iterative."

Iger also mentioned a few of the projects on the Disney/Marvel slate that fans can look forward to:

"Looking to our 2025 theatrical slate, we're excited to bring audiences Captain America: Brave New World and Fantastic Four for Marvel, Pixar has Zootopia 2, and then there's Avatar 3. And we're already looking forward to 2026 and beyond with Frozen 3, the first Toy Story movie since 2019, and a new Star Wars movie that brings The Mandalorian and Grogu to the big screen for the very first time."

Which Marvel projects are you most looking forward to seeing in the new movie-making model?